


How Not To Get Over Your Ex

by RealMagicQueen



Category: Looking (TV)
Genre: Angst, Love, M/M, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-05-03 07:29:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14564049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealMagicQueen/pseuds/RealMagicQueen
Summary: Richie and Patrick spend a loved up day in a park where Brady spies them. You see, Brady is really finding it difficult to move on...





	1. Chapter 1

It's the laughter that turned Brady's head around. It was loud and sudden. That was what drew his attention; not because it was familiar. Patrick didn't have a distinctive laugh. He tittered more than he guffawed. Nothing remarkable about a titter.

It was pretty annoying though.

They were all out there in the open, separated by space and bodies. No trees, no benches. If the happy couple looked away from each other just for a second, they would notice Brady. His red hair _was_ distinctive. 

Brady looked away. Luckily, he had his back to them. It was the laugh that drew his attention, just the laugh. He didn't have a radar on him that detected when Richie and the "baby gay" were near. 

Thank God Kaia had opted out of this picnic. _She_ was loud. There was no way she wouldn't have drawn attention to them. She thought Richie sucked. She would have made faces at Brady's ex-boyfriend and his on-again lover, said something snarky and hoped the wind carried it over. She'd probably have insisted they left just so they'd flounce past that self-absorbed mess and she'd give them the finger.

Brady felt the back of his neck redden. Pin pricks swarmed his arms, face and scalp causing him to rub his hands jerkily over those parts of his body.

"Are you okay?" his work best friend George asked. "You are mute all of a sudden."

Brady shook his head. "I was just reflecting on everything we are saying. I mean gay divorce rates suddenly going up makes you wonder why we fought for marriage equality to begin with. Even heterosexuals don't want to get married these days so why fight for something nobody wants?"

"So you can have the right not to want it too?" said Sal, a butch lesbian he totally hated having arguments or even conversations with. She loved being contrary for contrary sake, and was often always on the defensive. Weirdly, she reminded him of Patrick.

Brady stole a glance that way. Richie was lying flat on his back with an arm folded under his head. Patrick was lying down too but on his side, resting on an elbow. His free hand was waving in the air and then playing with Richie's beard. As usual, he was nattering off in that super-excited way he had.

They were too far away for Brady to hear what was actually being said. He turned away just as Patrick lowered his head over Richie's.

Sal was arguing with her girlfriend Rebecca who hated nicknames. No Becky or Becca, thank you very much.

"Are you sure you are okay?" George inquired again, sidling closer. He looked over Brady's shoulder in the direction of "the couple."

Brady waited for the penny to drop but George's gaze, when it returned to him, remained clueless. Brady glanced behind him. It took all of his self-control not to roll his eyes. Patrick's body was completely covering Richie's. 

"I thought I saw someone who looked like Richie," he replied for some reason he could not fathom at that moment.

"Ugh, that guy," George scoffed, reaching for a sandwich. "The quiet ones are always the worst."

He rubbed Brady's back. "One day, you'd realise you were too good for him." Almost choking on his sandwich, he rushed to clarify, "Not because he's a barber. I mean, the rates they charge these days. But, leading you on for a year, using you as a place holder while he waited to get back with his ex..."

It was on the tip of Brady's tongue to defend Richie, explain to George how it really went down... But then, how _did_ it really go down? Patrick had returned and lovestruck Richie had conveniently rushed back to him. Not even a day later but on the same day the blubbering techie had breezed into San Francisco.

Brady cringed inwardly remembering what he'd said about Patrick flying in on his private jet.

He regarded George who was now lying back on his elbows, carefully chewing on the last bite of his sandwich. 

"You are right." Brady lay back too so he could speak quietly to George without the rest of their group chipping in. "I was a placeholder. It just irks me the guy he left me for. I mean just look at him." He montioned towards the couple who had stopped kissing and were cuddled up on the grass.

George gave him a piercing look with a smile playing around his lips. "So it is Richie."

Brady shook his head. He cushioned his head on his arms, looking up to the clear sky. 

"Maybe you should talk to him. Explain how you feel -"

Brady started to speak.

"I mean about being dumped."

"We've had that talk."

"Obviously, it didn't make you feel better."

Brady didn't reply.

"Unless, you can do something about it, you've got to let it go eventually."

George glanced at the couple again. "They do look really happy."

Brady snorted. "Trust me, he is going to dump him again."

"And then what? Richie'll come back to you?"

Brady let his eyelids fall over his eyes, shielding them from George's searching gaze. Once again, he was bereft of an apt reply.

"It's six months already, kiddo." George slapped Brady on the thigh and sat up. "Let it go. The anger, the jealousy or whatever. And yes, take it from me, you could do way better."

Brady was silent still, contemplative beneath the warmth of his friend's kind smile.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a pleasant day. Richie was glad he'd agreed to come to the park with Patrick. The sky was a clear blue.

A flighty breeze played around; sometimes ruffling hairs, snatching up blankets carelessly left unweighted, tossing up plastic cups -other times, calmly settling on their exposed skin, wrapping them in a cool embrace before taking off again to cause mild mayhem.

There were no trees for cover. They were lying down close to some hedges which were not high enough to form any sort of protection from the glare of the sun. Richie had on his Giants cap, sitting low on his forehead, covering his eyes. 

Patrick who had been chattering about some idiocy of Agustin, pulled the cap to the side to get a good view of his boyfriend's face.

"You are not even listening to me," he complained with a twinkle in his eyes and an indulgent smile on his lips.

"Yes, I am. Agustin refused to pay for his drinks." Richie bared his teeth in a cheeky grin.

Patrick rolled his eyes, chuckling. He grabbed Richie's face: one hand palming the top of his head, the other holding his chin steady as he planted a kiss on those enticing lips.

Richie, in turn, captured the back of Patrick's head, turning what was intended to be a mere peck into a tongue exploration of each other's mouth. He pulled Patrick over him, hugging him close as their teeth, tongue and lips demanded, teased and sated at the same time.

Finally, they came up for air. Patrick buried his nose in the side of Richie's neck, inhaling deeply. Richie giggled, stroking a calming hand up and down his boyfriend's jacket-covered back.

"I could fuck you right here," he growled.

Patrick's head came up in shock. Richie laughed at the look on his face, and Patrick smacked his chest. The younger man looked around the park. There was a heterosexual couple a little distance away. They were making out idly and the man was actually squeezing the woman's breasts; albeit, over her blouse. No one appeared to be paying particular attention to them.

Patrick shook his head, getting off Richie to lie on his side, one arm still draped over his love. "Not in broad daylight, no. Maybe in the evening when everyone is gone. It would just be you and me, naked under the stars."

Richie wasn't listening again. Patrick followed his gaze to see what had caught his attention. 

The unmistakable red hair and hard (and sharp) as glass glare. 

Patrick didn't know why he thought a wave was wise. Brady's eyes grew even chillier as he turned away to lie on his back.

Patrick gazed down at Richie who swivelled his eyes towards him. Patrick searched for regret or remorse in those dark depths but what he saw was reassurance as Richie pulled him in for another kiss; this time,  a quick one.

The dark-haired man gave his lover a care-free smile, settling on his back and placing his cap back over his forehead. He took Patrick's right fingers, which were lying against his left shoulder blade, and put them to his lips, nibbling playfully at them.

Patrick couldn't help that his eyes were drawn back to Brady's prone figure. It's been six months, one would think the Ginge would have let go.

He sighed, allowing his head to drop to Richie's chest. He listened to his boyfriend's steady heartbeat and all the other weird sounds that came from having eaten a heavy picnic lunch.

Patrick smiled to himself. His fingers were still against Richie's lips but now they were being fanned by the other man's deepened breaths. He closed his own eyes, feeling completely at peace. 


End file.
